James Lerner, a New York City attorney, was determined to build a weekend house that reflected his appreciation of contemporary architecture. "I didn't want something you could find in a typical suburban subdivision," he says. But he had chosen a site in Columbia County, a rural area lying between the Hudson River and the Berkshire Mourtains, which is dotted with modest farm buildings. Lerner wanted to respect local traditions.

Lerner's architect, Adam Rolston (a partner with Drew Stuart and Gabriel Benroth in Incorporated Architecture and Design), took both goals to heart, creating a house that is as neighborly as it is bold. From the road, with its facade of wooden louvers, it appears to be a single-story building. But its roofline angles upward to a rear facade that is 16 feet high, 130 feet long and made almost entirely of glass. More than a dozen sliding doors (their wooden frames covered in aluminum on the outside) open onto a deck shielded by a ten-foot overhanging eave. The sheltered space impresses with its careful detailing and strong proportions.

Inside, where every room takes advantage of the angled ceiling, the house has the feeling of a loft. (Rolston used wood trusses to create a space free of columns and bearing walls.) Within the loft, Rolston placed bedrooms at opposite ends, for privacy, and reserved the rest of the space for a great room, bracketed by the kitchen on one side and a fireplace on the other.

"You can't see the refrigerator, and that's the whole idea," says Lerner of his modest kitchen. To achieve the minimalist look, he ordered stainless steel cabinets and appliance fronts from Varenna, a division of Italy's Poliform. The glossy countertop and backsplash, of Calacutta gold marble, were also made in Italy (Varenna's way of assuring that everything fits). Though it's almost selfeffacing, the kitchen makes a strong impression. Its symmetry, Rolston says, helps create order within a sprawling space, imposing a measure of formality on an otherwise casual setting.

The master bathroom is less formal but no less carefully thought out. Rolston covered both the floors and walls in tiles of Vermont blue slate, arranging them in a brick pattern that gives the look of heavy masonry. And he carefully detailed the room to avoid exposing the thinness of the stone: Although the tile does not continue all the way up to the ceiling, a second layer of wallboard was added where the tile stops, resulting in a flush vertical surface.

Rolston took the opportunity—not an option in most homes—to sink the Kohler Tea-for-Two tub into the floor, which contributes to a spa-like feeling. Also adding to the spa ambiance: a 15-foot wall of etched glass, which encloses the shower and toilet compartments. Instead of installing typical bathroom sconces, Rolston chose Bega's dimmable halogen lights, which are actually outdoor fixtures intended to be used for patios and walkways; they're waterproof and sleek, and they give off a light that makes everyone look good, Rolston says.

Architect Adam Rolston put a lot of thought into making the house both comfortable and energy-efficient. For the exterior, he chose Zalmag, a material that consists of galvanized metal on a steel base. The components are largely recycled and 100 percent recyclable. Zalmag, which starts out silvery, weathers to a bluish gray.

Perhaps the biggest challenge was finding the right windows (a major investment for Lerner, given that he needed 68 of them). But the window wall, which faces southwest, does more than simply admit light. In winter, it allows the sun to warm the building, reducing energy costs. In summer, when the sun is high in the sky, the ten-foot overhang keeps the windows in the shade. (The trees around the house—most of them deciduous—provide additional climate control. )

Rolston chose windows by Loewen, a Canadian company with a strong environmental ethos. Not only are the windows energyefficient, but their frames are made of Douglas fir derived from Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified timber. Waste sawdust is used to heat the Loewen factory (with excess sold as farm animal "bedding"). The windows themselves are designed to be repairable (or even to be removed and reinstalled without damage to their housings), so that they don't end up in landfills prematurely. And, as Rolston says, given the windows' high R-values (which measure the level of insulation), "they would qualify for the Barack Obama national stimulus package rebate."